Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen left for the United States on Sunday to sign an agreement on Greenland’s future with President Donald Trump in New York.
Speaking in front of her aircraft on Sunday afternoon, Frederiksen said a great many hours had gone into securing the deal, by politicians and by the civil service. DR reports that she declined to describe the contents before the signature is in place.
The prime minister said there was a great deal of speculation about the text, and that she understood the interest. She added that neither she nor Greenland’s premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, would sign an agreement that was not good for Greenland and for the Kingdom.
Frederiksen confirmed that the signing ceremony means a meeting with Trump in New York. The time of that meeting is not yet known. The signing takes place in connection with the United Nations General Assembly, which opens in the city in the coming days.
Traveling from Denmark are Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. From Greenland, Nielsen is joined by Múte B. Egede, minister for foreign affairs.
What the agreement is said to cover
Trump announced on September 18, 2026 that the United States, Denmark and Greenland had reached an agreement. According to the New York Post, he said it gives the US permanent control over security and all other needs on the island.
USA Today reported that the text would be formally signed in New York during the General Assembly, at a ceremony with Trump, Frederiksen and Greenland’s leadership. Per CNN, the deal grants permanent US military access, basing and overflight rights, and expands the American presence on the island.
Danish and Greenlandic leaders say the pact does not cede sovereignty. As reported by The Guardian, they state that it recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.
Frederiksen made the same point before departure. She said Denmark is a sovereign state, that Greenlanders’ right to self-determination must be respected in the future, and that territorial integrity is covered by the agreement. She described respect for what she called Danish and Greenlandic red lines as decisive.
The prime minister said she has an excellent relationship with the American president, and that the agreement is good for security in an unsettled world. She framed it in both European and NATO terms, on both sides of the Atlantic.
According to The Hill, the agreement is described as an Arctic and North Atlantic security pact. Its stated purpose is to strengthen Western security and to keep Russia and China from establishing bases or making sensitive investments in Greenland.
Asked whether Trump would honor the agreement, Frederiksen said she assumes all parties will. She noted that Denmark is used to making agreements in many contexts, and that the process took a long time politically and diplomatically.
